FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Hot Springs National Park and three local residents, dancers Morgan Laney Smith, Baylee Badeaux and Gabi Lynn Dulaney, are featured in a new book, "Dance Across the USA," which recently won top honors in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, a news release said.
In the summer of 2016, photographer Jonathan Givens embarked on a journey spanning 50 states in 90 days with the sole purpose of photographing dancers in national parks and beloved settings in each state. The possibilities included a dancer on top of an active volcano, in the middle of the ocean, on a sand dune in Death Valley, in a glacier-fed lake, the release said.
During the 90-day journey, Givens drove 22,264 miles, took 22,160 photographs of 163 dancers and visited 56 locations in 50 states, all in "Mighty Buford," the van that served as the vehicle for his odyssey.
"Dance Across the USA" is a coffee table-style book featuring images from the journey, is photo diary, part "love letter to America," and part celebration of dance, offering full-color, breathtaking images, "swoon-worthy" settings and "amazing subjects," the release said.
The book was a passion project born of Givens' desire to showcase the fabric of America, shine a spotlight on the importance of dance, and highlight the diversity that exists in both the physical landscape and in the dancers who make America their home, it said.
"Dance Across the USA" features a wide range of dancers, from ages 5-61, professionals and amateurs, students and teachers, male and female, boys and girls, cat lovers and dog lovers. Locations included sandy Florida beaches, the rugged Washington coast, the glaciers of Alaska and Death Valley in California.
"Dance Across the USA" will be published in a trade paper edition in December. A portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to benefit America's parks and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Local on 06/18/2018